LOVING TOUCH: A new city program will boost breast feeding. Photo: Helayne Seidman

He’s cracked down on smoking, trans fats, salt and sugary drinks. And now, Mayor Bloomberg is promoting a new health initiative: breast feeding.

The Health Department is pushing a sweeping initiative to prod dozens of city hospitals to get more moms in their maternity wards to breast feed, The Post has learned.

It’s called the “Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative.”

Hospitals can apply for federal funding to participate in the program to obtain support and technical assistance and earn the designation as a “Baby-Friendly” facility.

The program is sponsored by the World Health Organization.

Harlem Hospital and NYU Langone Medical Center are two city medical facilities that have already earned the distinction.

“The benefits of breast feeding to infants, mothers and society are well established . . . Specifically, infants exclusively breast fed for at least six months have a 22 percent reduction in risk for childhood obesity,” the Health Department said in its proposal to hospitals.

First Lady Michelle Obama also recommends increasing breast feeding rates as part of her “Let’s Move” campaign to reduce obesity.

Under the city plan, 24 to 36 hospitals would enroll in the initiative over three years. Hospitals will be asked to implement a 10-step program to increase breast feeding.